By Travis Trombley | |
Well, maybe not better. The Arkham games excel in making players feel like Batman, ultimately equipped for any adversary or encounter. Bethesda's Dishonored games, though, force players to inhabit the moral psychology one with great power and tasked with great purpose.
Despite a general lack of capes and spandex, the stealth-action franchise interrogates certain premises of the superhero genre. While perhaps not Bethesda's defined intention, Dishonored 2, especially, allows players to confront the balance of moral compromise with access to power.
Perhaps more important than the superpowers themselves, the key staple of the superhero narrative is moral integrity. As opposed to the harsh kill-or-be-killed reality of The Walking Dead, access to unique unique abilities allows superheroes to win the day without compromising or resorting to bloodier alternatives. (Sure, the values they held up have been hegemonic and arguably unjust over the years, but to the writers in their own times, these heroes were champions of virtue, regardless of how we now view some of those virtues today).
This trend dates back to the origin of Superman in 1938. Before he fought alien invasions, Superman confronted the villains of the Great Depression: corrupt politicians and mob bosses. And he could do so without ever compromising his moral center. Superman would never concede his ethical values by resorting to murder or permitting innocent casualties. His abilities replaced the need for sullied hands. Despite what Tom King’s Omega Men says, Kent found a third option between submission and savagery, a feat all tight-wearing do-gooders to follow would have to address one way or another.
Despite a general lack of capes and spandex, the stealth-action franchise interrogates certain premises of the superhero genre. While perhaps not Bethesda's defined intention, Dishonored 2, especially, allows players to confront the balance of moral compromise with access to power.
Perhaps more important than the superpowers themselves, the key staple of the superhero narrative is moral integrity. As opposed to the harsh kill-or-be-killed reality of The Walking Dead, access to unique unique abilities allows superheroes to win the day without compromising or resorting to bloodier alternatives. (Sure, the values they held up have been hegemonic and arguably unjust over the years, but to the writers in their own times, these heroes were champions of virtue, regardless of how we now view some of those virtues today).
This trend dates back to the origin of Superman in 1938. Before he fought alien invasions, Superman confronted the villains of the Great Depression: corrupt politicians and mob bosses. And he could do so without ever compromising his moral center. Superman would never concede his ethical values by resorting to murder or permitting innocent casualties. His abilities replaced the need for sullied hands. Despite what Tom King’s Omega Men says, Kent found a third option between submission and savagery, a feat all tight-wearing do-gooders to follow would have to address one way or another.
While violent, the superhero’s prime directive demands justice, most easily distilled in a stubborn adherence to nonlethality. This is arguably (and ironically) most true of Batman, a superhero without superpowers who still maintains the superhero's strict code of restraint in regards to his vigilante efforts by way of unique abilities (exemplified perfectly in the clip below from Under the Red Hood).
Bethesda’s surprise hit Dishonored and its recently released sequel allow players to enter this conversation with striking effect, exploring the balance the pragmatic requirement of superpowers for the retention of moral integrity.
The game's premis is pretty straight forward: a coup in the whale-punk city of Dunwall results in a loss of power and you being branded as somehow responsible (thus the title), so you fight your way to the top of the conspiracy, one key player after another, to exact revenge and maybe save your city in the process.
The ends remain relatively straightforward, but Bethesda leaves the means entirely to the player: nonlethal or murderous (enemies can be knocked out, killed, or avoided), stealthy navigation, a more direct, violent approach, or something in between. The choice is entirely the player’s.
To aid in your quest, the Outsider, a quasi-Faustian inhabitant of the Void, appears and offers you magic (super*) powers including but not limited to short-range teleportation, extra-sensory perception, time manipulation, and the ability possess other living creatures.
In the first game, the Outsider’s “mark” is not an option. In the second, though, players get the choice to deny his gift of superpowers. Later journal entries indicate the there is a “cost” to taking the mark, like the selling of a soul, but this is never properly explained, so we will set that aside for the purposes of this argument. Instead we’ll focus on the effect of refusing the mark in regards to gameplay options.
Playing the game sans powers is an unforgiving experience. Even more so if players elect the harder difficulties and toggle off the hub, too. Already vigilant guards get an almost preternatural sense and swarm with extreme prejudice upon being alerted, almost always resulting in player death.
And so without powers, one quickly finds the nonlethal option less viable. A lack of traversal abilities eliminates one’s capacity to stealthily bypass guards by way of rooftops or snapping from cover to cover. Instead, players must rely on timing and quick executions to avoid guards’ adept perception. Since the extra time required to incapacitate a foe nonlethally leaves one exposed to the threat of detection, and since detection without the aid powers to either flee or dispatch a number of guards usually leads to death, all but the most adept players will quickly accept the need for moral compromise. A quick dagger to the throat or crossbow bolt to the head eliminates the danger quickly and silently, allowing the player to progress undeterred.
The game's premis is pretty straight forward: a coup in the whale-punk city of Dunwall results in a loss of power and you being branded as somehow responsible (thus the title), so you fight your way to the top of the conspiracy, one key player after another, to exact revenge and maybe save your city in the process.
The ends remain relatively straightforward, but Bethesda leaves the means entirely to the player: nonlethal or murderous (enemies can be knocked out, killed, or avoided), stealthy navigation, a more direct, violent approach, or something in between. The choice is entirely the player’s.
To aid in your quest, the Outsider, a quasi-Faustian inhabitant of the Void, appears and offers you magic (super*) powers including but not limited to short-range teleportation, extra-sensory perception, time manipulation, and the ability possess other living creatures.
In the first game, the Outsider’s “mark” is not an option. In the second, though, players get the choice to deny his gift of superpowers. Later journal entries indicate the there is a “cost” to taking the mark, like the selling of a soul, but this is never properly explained, so we will set that aside for the purposes of this argument. Instead we’ll focus on the effect of refusing the mark in regards to gameplay options.
Playing the game sans powers is an unforgiving experience. Even more so if players elect the harder difficulties and toggle off the hub, too. Already vigilant guards get an almost preternatural sense and swarm with extreme prejudice upon being alerted, almost always resulting in player death.
And so without powers, one quickly finds the nonlethal option less viable. A lack of traversal abilities eliminates one’s capacity to stealthily bypass guards by way of rooftops or snapping from cover to cover. Instead, players must rely on timing and quick executions to avoid guards’ adept perception. Since the extra time required to incapacitate a foe nonlethally leaves one exposed to the threat of detection, and since detection without the aid powers to either flee or dispatch a number of guards usually leads to death, all but the most adept players will quickly accept the need for moral compromise. A quick dagger to the throat or crossbow bolt to the head eliminates the danger quickly and silently, allowing the player to progress undeterred.
When players have to go loud, so to speak, grenades and bullets ensure that enemies go down fast and don’t get back up. Unlike Rocksteady’s Batman, Corvo and Emily cannot so easily dispatch small hordes of henchmen without taking a life. Despite Dishonored 2’s wider array of nonlethal options, like in-combat chokes, the time required leaves players too vulnerable to survive any attack from other assailants. The threat here feels more immediate and realistic.
Likewise, the measures that allow players to eliminate key targets without killing them are almost entirely out of reach without the aid the Outsider’s powers. Without them, the player is reduced to the most immediate and simplest means to accomplish the goal by merit of the game’s difficulty, and the simplest route is almost always a swift execution.
That all said, one could take the view that the nonlethal route without powers is the most uncompromising route, forcing players into that elusive third path. However, this would require an intimate knowledge of map layouts and AI behavior in addition to a gaming precision beyond the reach of most laymen. In other words, such players would be videogame superheroes already. This would indeed be a nobler road if the narrative further explored the “cost” of the Outsider’s mark, but without such development, the perfect, powerless playthrough rings impressive only from a gamer’s perspective.
By illustrating the difficulty of a nonlethal approach without powers, Dishonored demonstrates a simple principle of the superhero genre: power creates opportunity, and a lack of power pragmatically demands (for most) a moral compromise. There’s a harsh economy of reality in which success comes at the cost of one’s soul, so to speak.
Superheroes have matured since the simple days of Superman’s war on corruption. Books like Watchmen, Omega Men, and Marvel’s Civil War arc, just to name a few, deconstruct this simplified reality with the introduction of ambiguity. As already mentioned, The Walking Dead (far from a superhero narrative, I know) emphasizes the theme that survival requires the renunciation of traditional moral values. But Dishonored 2's option to play without powers helps players experience this difficult balance first-hand. It cultivates an appreciation for power and for the restraint thereof simply not found in games like Rocksteady’s Arkham games.
Likewise, the measures that allow players to eliminate key targets without killing them are almost entirely out of reach without the aid the Outsider’s powers. Without them, the player is reduced to the most immediate and simplest means to accomplish the goal by merit of the game’s difficulty, and the simplest route is almost always a swift execution.
That all said, one could take the view that the nonlethal route without powers is the most uncompromising route, forcing players into that elusive third path. However, this would require an intimate knowledge of map layouts and AI behavior in addition to a gaming precision beyond the reach of most laymen. In other words, such players would be videogame superheroes already. This would indeed be a nobler road if the narrative further explored the “cost” of the Outsider’s mark, but without such development, the perfect, powerless playthrough rings impressive only from a gamer’s perspective.
By illustrating the difficulty of a nonlethal approach without powers, Dishonored demonstrates a simple principle of the superhero genre: power creates opportunity, and a lack of power pragmatically demands (for most) a moral compromise. There’s a harsh economy of reality in which success comes at the cost of one’s soul, so to speak.
Superheroes have matured since the simple days of Superman’s war on corruption. Books like Watchmen, Omega Men, and Marvel’s Civil War arc, just to name a few, deconstruct this simplified reality with the introduction of ambiguity. As already mentioned, The Walking Dead (far from a superhero narrative, I know) emphasizes the theme that survival requires the renunciation of traditional moral values. But Dishonored 2's option to play without powers helps players experience this difficult balance first-hand. It cultivates an appreciation for power and for the restraint thereof simply not found in games like Rocksteady’s Arkham games.
